As the last desperate attempts from the left to keep people from seeing this movie grow more histrionic, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find these positive gems among the chaff. I'm annoyed by the irony of critics condemning this movie as violent, yet continuing to endorse trashy, violent movies on a weekly basis.
The movie "Casino," gratuitously violent, with someone beaten by a bat and then buried alive, was popular with critics.
The Passion of the Christ is the antithesis of gratuitous violence. Its violence is utterly integral to the film Gibson set out to make, and succeeded in making. It is ridiculous to criticize him for not making another movie instead.